In this groundbreaking book, a leading clinical psychiatrist redefines how we think about and treat victims of trauma. A "stunning achievement" that remains a "classic for our generation." (Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., author of The Body Keeps the Score). Trauma and Recovery is revered as the seminal text on understanding trauma survivors. By placing individual experience in a broader political frame, Harvard psychiatrist Judith Herman argues that psychological trauma is inseparable from its social and political context. Drawing on her own research on incest, as well as a vast literature on combat veterans and victims of political terror, she shows surprising parallels between private horrors like child abuse and public horrors like war. Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most important psychiatry works to be published since Freud," Trauma and Recovery is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand how we heal and are healed.
Safe and effective principles and strategies for recovery from trauma. Trauma recovery is tricky; however, there are several key principles that can help make the process safe and effective. This book gives self help readers, therapy clients, and therapists alike the skills to understand and implement eight keys to successful trauma healing: mindful identification of what is helpful, recognizing survival, having the option to not remember, creating a supportive inner dialogue, forgiving not being able to stop the trauma, understanding and sharing shame, finding your own recovery pace; mobilizing your body, and helping others. This is not another book promoting a new method or type of treatment; rather, it is a necessary adjunct to self-help and professional recovery programs. After reading this book, readers will be able to recognize their own individual needs and evaluate whether those needs are being met. They will have the tools necessary to put themselves in the drivers seat, navigating their own safe road to recovery.
Trauma, stress, and disasters are impacting our world. The scientific advances presented address the burden of disease of trauma- and stressor-related disorders. This book is about their genetic, neurochemical, developmental, and psychological foundations, epidemiology, and prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. It presents evidence-based psychotherapeutic, psychopharmacological, public health, and policy interventions.
How mindfulness can help trauma survivors move to places of healing. Trauma touches every life, but the way that we hold our pain makes a difference. Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD provides user-friendly descriptions of the many facets of traumatic stress alongside evidence-based strategies to manage trauma symptoms and build new strengths. This book is a valuable resource for trauma survivors, health professionals, researchers, mindfulness practitioners, and others seeking new pathways to recovery and resilience. It is normal to feel anxious or depressed after trauma, and to have upsetting thoughts and memories. Instead of fighting our feelings and blaming ourselves for what are actually common responses to trauma, mindfulness practices can help us tolerate and decrease distress, cultivate kindness towards ourselves and others, make wise choices, navigate attention, improve relationships, and relax—capacities that reduce trauma symptoms and advance our overall well-being. Practicing the small stuff can help us with the big stuff. As we learn to notice our breathing, walking, minor frustrations or daily activities with curiosity and care, we build inner resources to skillfully handle past trauma, as well as current and future challenges. Mindfulness practices can transform self-blame into self-respect and self-compassion. We can also match specific mindfulness skills to particular trauma symptoms. For example, “grounding” with the five senses can help us when we feel overwhelmed or spaced out, and loving-kindness meditation can alleviate self-criticism. With this book, you will explore scientifically supported mindfulness practices, plus “In their own words” sections that illustrate the skills with personal stories demonstrating how mindfulness practices have helped others recover from trauma. “Research highlight” sections showcase fascinating scientific studies that form the basis for the book's approaches. As we practice effective strategies to handle a full range of experiences, we can each find new sources of hope, connection, and peace.
This volume focuses on the role that religion and spirituality can play in recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other forms of trauma, including moral injury. Religious texts, from the Bible to Buddhist scriptures, have always contained passages that focus on helping those who have experienced the trauma of war. Many religions have developed psychological, social, behavioral, and spiritual ways of coping and healing that can work in tandem with clinical treatments today in assisting recovery from PTSD and moral injury. In this book the authors review and discuss systematic research into how religion helps people cope with severe trauma, including trauma caused by natural disasters, intentional interpersonal violence, or combat experiences during war. They delve into the impact that spirituality has in both the development of and recovery from PTSD. Beyond reviewing research, they also use case vignettes throughout to illustrate the very human story of recovery from PTSD, and how religious or spiritual beliefs can both help or hinder depending on circumstance. A vital work for any mental health or religious professionals who seek to help people dealing with severe trauma and loss.
A comprehensive reference book about the causes of trauma, how the body responds to it neurologically and often continues to hold it within resulting in PTSD, the body's physiological co-factors that contribute to PTSD, and how to release these over-protections.
The latest theory and research on understanding posttraumatic stressand its treatment, providing evidence-based clinical interventionsusing techniques drawn from positive psychology It is known that exposure to stressful and traumatic events can have severe and chronic psychological consequences. At the same time-mindful of the suffering often caused by trauma-there is also a growing body of evidence testifying to posttraumatic growth: the positive psychological changes that can result for survivors of trauma. Blending these two areas of research and exploring the relevance of positive psychology to trauma practice, Trauma, Recovery, and Growth: Positive Psychological Perspectives on Posttraumatic Stress provides clinicians with the resources they need to implement positive psychology interventions in their trauma treatment across a spectrum of?therapeutic perspectives, including cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, existential, and group therapies. Featuring contributions by internationally renowned researchers and practitioners and edited by experts in the field of positive psychology who have worked with survivors of trauma in the facilitation of their resilience, recovery, and growth, this timely book is divided into four parts: Toward an Integrative Positive Psychology of Posttraumatic Experience Growth and Distress in Social, Community, and Interpersonal Contexts Clinical Approaches and Therapeutic Experiences of Managing Distress and Facilitating Growth Beyond the Stress-Growth Distinction: Issues at the Cutting Edge of Theory and Practice Trauma, Recovery, and Growth explores the role positive psychology can play in how clinical practitioners treat and work with survivors of stressful and traumatic events and offers an optimistic perspective in the treatment of those who suffer posttraumatic stress following devastating events such as terrorist attacks, childhood sexual abuse, cancer, and war.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant source of death and permanent disability, contributing to nearly one-third of all injury related deaths in the United States and exacting a profound personal and economic toll. Despite the increased resources that have recently been brought to bear to improve our understanding of TBI, the developme
Told in the voice of a Soldier-turned-therapist who struggled through her own debilitating PTSD, The Soldier's Guide is a call to arms, offering facts, empathy, and direction, while urging Service Members to get the help they need, helping family members to understand the battlefield, and connecting civilians with a Warrior culture.
The culmination of more than 25 years of clinical work and research, this is the authoritative presentation of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Written by the treatment's developers, the book includes session-by-session guidelines for implementation, complete with extensive sample dialogues and 40 reproducible client handouts. It explains the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of CPT and discusses how to adapt the approach for specific populations, such as combat veterans, sexual assault survivors, and culturally diverse clients. The large-size format facilitates photocopying and day-to-day use. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. CPT is endorsed by the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, and the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a best practice for the treatment of PTSD.
